This invention relates generally to the field of food processing and more particularly to the field of filling containers with processed food products. Even more specifically, it pertains to a method of filling storage drums with cooked, sterile pieces of solid food product in a packing liquid.
Numerous techniques have long been known for canning or aseptically packaging food products in containers. In many of these prior art methods the food product along with its juice or a syrup or other appropriate packing liquid are placed in a container and cooked or sterilized while in that container. The container is then sealed and cooled. Prior art techniques have also been known for bulk packaging of food products, some of them in steel drums.
Recently, interest has increased in packing food products in bulk quantities in drums of 200 liters capacity or more. It has been found that partially processed products, such as tomato dices or fruit cocktail or similar items comprising cooked sterile pieces of solid food product, may be stored in these large containers at the time of initial processing of the product and then later processed and repackaged into individual cans and packages for distribution and retail sale. In these processes aseptic packaging is critical to maintain the quality and purity of the product until it is finally processed for packaging and distribution.
Because of both the packaging and the storage volume requirements, it is desirable to pack as much as the solid food product as possible into the drum, along with the packing liquid, and to eliminate air from the drum to the greatest extent possible.